These past few months have been crazy and splendid all at once! I enjoyed a few weeks of rest by relishing my family and friends. Then it was off again to see the squad in Bulgaria! My co-leader and I arrived a few days early to travel to Macedonia where the teams were currently serving for the month.
(Macedonian food and view on point!)
While in Macedonia we stayed with a couch surfer who graciously opened up his home for us and drove us to different parts of Macedonia to explore this beautiful and ancient country. We had stimulating conversations about Jesus and God with our agnostic host and enjoyed our time learning about Macedonia. Macedonia has a strong culture and history in Orthodox Christianity. It was intriguing to hear some stories our host shared as we toured ancient churches and monasteries around the country.
(Macedonian host, me, co-leader, Emily visiting an ancient theater.)
An interesting story begins with a mosque that has a cross on top of it! Our host pointed it out and told us the story behind it. The muslims in the area were trying to build a new mosque. Twice this mosque fell down shortly after construction. A Catholic priest got a word for his muslim neighbors and told them that in order for the mosque to stand, they will need to build it with a cross on the top. So the mosque was built with a cross on the top if it, and the mosque didn’t fall down. To this day the mosque is there, fully utilized, with the symbol of a cross on the very top. Interesting right?! I thought so!
Another story that stood out to me, was that it is common for muslim women to go to a Christian church to pray if they are having trouble getting pregnant. We asked why this was common. Our hosts said, “because it works!” It’s a known thing in the muslim community there that if they are having trouble getting pregnant, they go to the Christian church and then they get pregnant… for some reason, it works, they get pregnant! WOW! So interesting! Praise God that He shows his power and sovereignty in the funniest and least likeliest ways! I pray that the muslim mothers getting pregnant this way will come to realize, ‘there must be something with this Jesus dude!’ 😀
After our few days with our couch surfer host in Macedonia we met up with the teams and headed to Bulgaria for debrief. It was good to arrive early in order to fight some jet lag and be able to travel with the teams. I enjoyed this debrief a lot! I was able to catch up with almost everyone on their past two months and how they were doing personally. It was a good time for us to be there because at this point in the race, it starts to get really difficult. People begin to get tired and homesick. For me personally this time last year was the hardest spot for me. It was impactful to tell some of the racers my experience with month 8/9 and just to let them know that it’s okay to not be okay sometimes. These next few months are going to be testers for them to see if they can push through and rely on the Lord for their strength when their flesh doesn’t want to continue. Please continue to pray for this squad as they serve in South Africa and then in Swaziland!
Upon returning home from Bulgaria, I quickly transitioned into vacation mode as I flew with my family to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico! This was one of the best vacations I have had in a long time. Even though I travel a lot, traveling and vacation are not the same thing. Period. This was a real vacation. I didn’t have work to do, people to be responsible for, or to live in ‘rough it’ conditions and extremely low budgets! I had never stayed in a resort before, so this was a real treat. Our accommodations made me feel like the rich tourists we were (comparatively speaking). Our week there was incredibly refreshing and I thank all my family members who made that trip possible! <3
(The family about to ride ATVs in the jungles of Mexico!)
I then transitioned my vacation mindset to one of joy and jubilee as I flew to Atlanta to celebrate the wedding of a dear friend and mentor, Scott. Scott was the mentor for my Fusion 1 squad in 2015. Him and his new wife are now missionaries in Cambodia together. I was incredibly honored to celebrate their marriage with about half of my squad-mates from Fusion 1! It was the first mini Fusion 1 reunion and it hopefully won’t be the last!
Fusion 1 Reunion at Scott’s wedding! <3
